"When they tell you that immigrants sleep in 5-star hotels, show them this". With that message, human rights activists are spreading a video through social networks that reflects the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in the warehouse where the vast majority of immigrants arriving in pateras to Lanzarote remain.
Mattresses and even simple mats thrown on the floor serve as beds for hundreds of people crowded in that warehouse, which has also seen its supposed capacity overwhelmed with the arrival of the latest wave of boats last weekend.
The warehouse, located on the road from Arrecife to San Bartolomé, does not even have bathrooms or showers, and chemical toilets have had to be installed so that they can relieve themselves.
In addition, the images show the presence of liquid next to those bathrooms, on the same floor where they sleep.
The warehouse, where access is restricted, is guarded by the National Police and its management depends on the central government, which is the one with the powers. All adults who arrive in pateras to the island are referred there, with the exception of those who test positive for Covid or those who must be isolated for having been close contacts. Only in those cases are they sent to the accommodation complexes set up in Puerto del Carmen, while the rest remain crowded in that warehouse, at least during the 72 hours they remain in police custody.
